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Feng Yuheng knew what was going on. She had known that Yingcao had problems, but seeing that the child was not a bad person, was still young, and could play well with Zirui, she boldly kept him. Fortunately, now the rain has passed and everything is fine.
She thanked Miao for taking care of Zirui for so many years, but Miao laughed at her family for talking behind each other's backs. The Yao family had always treated her as their own granddaughter, and had never deliberately treated her as an alien because of the word "outsider". These were things that elders should do, but it was a pity that Yao Xian passed away early and could not enjoy a few more years of family happiness.
At night, Feng Yuheng and Zirui sat in the courtyard. Zirui was thirteen years old, and had grown into a handsome young man. He inherited all the good looks of Feng Jinyuan and Yao, and was very handsome. Feng Yuheng said, "My little brother, I didn't expect him to be such a handsome boy!"
Zi Rui didn't understand what a handsome guy meant, but he knew his sister was praising his good looks, so he smiled and said, "That's because I take after my sister. My sister is pretty, so Zi Rui is pretty too."
"Nonsense." She reached out and tapped Zirui's head, "Your appearance is from your parents, how can it be from your sister?"
"Dad and mom are gone, Zirui only has sister from now on." The young man raised his head slightly, "Zirui has grown up, but he is still not as tall as sister. Wait for me for another two years. When Zirui reaches the age of marriage, he will definitely surpass sister." As he said, he also sighed slightly, "Sister, where are you going in the future? I know you don't want to live in the capital, but I haven't seen sister for these years. Now you are leaving, can you take me with you?" The young man's eyes were full of expectation. He told Feng Yuheng: "I have learned all the courses in the academy. The teacher said that my progress is at least two years ahead of normal students. If I want to take the imperial examination, my current knowledge is enough. And if I take the imperial examination, my achievements will not be worse than my father's back then. The teacher also said that he has nothing more to teach me. If I want to learn more, I should follow my sister. He said that my sister is a legendary woman, unique in the world."
Listening to Zirui's retelling of the words of the Imperial Tutor Ye Rong, Feng Yuheng was filled with emotion. She had brought a lot of things to the Imperial Tutor through Zirui, all of which were paper and pens from later times. Ye Rong had once given her a handwritten reply, which was written with a fountain pen. He was not very skilled, but the writing was elegant and rare. In the letter, Ye Rong expressed his extreme curiosity about these things, and also praised Feng Yuheng for his style as a great general, which was hard to find in the world.
She pondered Zirui's words for a while, then asked, "Sister, I remember that you used to like reading military books, and you always said that when you grow up, you want to follow your brother-in-law into battle and kill the enemy. Do you still think so now? Do you want to go to the battlefield with a sword or a gun, or do you want to serve as an official in the court?"
Zirui thought about this question again seriously, and then told Feng Yuheng: "Sister, I have thought about fighting in the desert many times, and then made great military achievements, so that sister can be proud of me, but later I no longer think so. Sister, Zirui is very unpromising. Zirui no longer wants to go to the battlefield, nor does he want to be an official in the court. He misses the days in Xiping Village. Although it is very hard and poor, and although there are bad people who make things difficult for us, the people there are still much more simple than those in the capital. When we left the capital, Zirui was still too young and didn't remember many good days in Feng Mansion. But the memories of the three years in Xiping Village have always been there. Whenever I think about it, it will trigger infinite longing. Sister, will we go back again?"
Feng Yuheng looked at her brother and laughed. She told him, "Yes, as long as you want, I will take you back."
She kept her word and stayed in Xiaozhou for ten days. Zirui dropped out of the academy, Miao took Yingcao back to the capital, and Feng Zirui followed his sister westward.
They were going to return to Xiping Village, to live a peaceful life there, and also to wait for Xuan Tianming to join them.
As the carriage traveled west, Feng Yuheng told him, "We still have to go to the Northern Territory to send His Royal Highness the Lotus King home, and then your brother-in-law will take us to a very good place. He said it is a paradise on earth, a place you can fall in love with at first sight. Are you looking forward to it, Zirui?"
The young man nodded, "I am looking forward to it. As long as my sister and brother-in-law are there, Zirui will be looking forward to it."
"But you have studied hard for many years, but you have not been able to put it into practice. Do you feel regretful?"
"No regrets, sir, as you said, knowledge and skills do not have to be used on the battlefield or in the court. They will accompany me throughout my life and be reflected in every aspect of life."
A car was heading west, and Ban Zou was driving the car. Huang Quan would occasionally hand out a bottle of water or two pieces of snacks.
The water was mineral water that Feng Yuheng took out from the space, and the snacks were also chocolate pies that were taken out from the space. People ate with gusto, but no one asked why Feng Yuheng could always produce things from his sleeves.
Zirui said to Huang Quan with a smile: "My sister is a fairy, so I am the fairy's brother. Sister Huang Quan, do you think I will suddenly have fairy skills in the future?"
Huang Quan said: "According to your analysis, I am also an immortal servant, so I should have some small magic skills, right?"
Wang Chuan said, "Having magic is not as good as imagined. With great ability comes great responsibility. Isn't it enough for the young lady to have suffered so much over the years? I would rather the young lady live an ordinary life. We can live an ordinary life without fame or profit, which is better than living in fear and intrigue all day long." As she spoke, she asked Feng Yuheng, "Young lady, how long will it take for His Highness to meet us in the northwest?"
Feng Yuheng thought for a moment and said, "It will take more than a month for the Beijing to be completed. Let's hurry up and stay there for more than a month. I'll also let you see the place where I used to live."
Zirui rushed to say, "There are many big mountains in that place. There are mountains on all sides. The whole Xiping Village is nestled in the mountains. My sister used to go up the mountains to pick mushrooms and dig wild vegetables. It was because she knew how to find those things to eat that my mother and I didn't starve to death."
The young man excitedly talked about the past, but for Feng Yuheng, he could only search for those things from the original owner's memory.
She looked out the window, her thoughts dim. She wondered how the real Feng Yuheng was doing in the South Realm. Was he crying at Yao's grave? And how was he facing Feng Jinyuan's grave?
In the capital, with Feng Yuheng's departure, the atmosphere seemed to quickly turn cold. The power of the fake eighth prince began to gradually invade, and the people were instigated by him to move closer to the capital little by little. From time to time, conflicts would occur outside the city gate, so that the people who came and went reduced their travel as much as possible to avoid getting into trouble.
In the palace, bad news came from Concubine Li. Zuo Er ran to Qiankun Palace late at night, knelt outside and said loudly: "Your Highness, go and have a look! I'm afraid Concubine Li is in trouble!"
Sun Rang was so shocked that he hurried inside to report. No matter how much Concubine Li acted, she was still the Sixth Prince's biological mother.
Xuan Tianfeng woke up from his sleep, breaking out in a cold sweat. He quickly dressed, took Sun Rang and Zuo'er and headed straight to Jingsi Palace.
By then, Concubine Li was lying on the bed, with blood oozing out of her mouth. The servants in the bedroom were so frightened that they knelt on the ground and dared not say a word. The imperial physician was busy all over, but he could not stop the bleeding.
Xuan Tianfeng looked at the blood, which was faintly black and seemed to be a sign of poisoning, and he could not help but get furious: "Is this how you serve your master?"
Zuo'er knelt on the ground and cried, "Your Highness, it's all my fault. I didn't take good care of you. You like to read some miscellaneous books recently. I didn't pay much attention to it. But since the two Taoists entered the palace, you asked them to provide elixirs, and said that it was said in the books that Taoists can make a kind of golden elixir that can make immortality. The two Taoists didn't know how to make it, and they only talked to you about Taoist scriptures and anecdotes every day. But you were not satisfied with this. She stole the elixirs that the Taoists carried with them and ate several of them in a row. She died in just an hour."
As they were talking, the two Taoists who had been standing outside also spoke up. One of them said, "That's the golden elixir we eat. Taoists have their own way of eating it. We don't swallow it raw like you did. It's all my fault that I didn't receive the personal belongings, so you took it by mistake. I take the blame."
But what does this have to do with the Taoist priest? Zuo'er said it was Concubine Li who stole it. Xuan Tianfeng took a deep breath. He was not a foolish person and would not do anything to punish someone casually. But the person lying on the bed was his mother after all. The blood spitting out made his heart tremble, so he quickly ordered Sun Rang: "Go and ask the doctor of Baicaotang, go quickly!"
Everyone in the palace was busy. Concubine Li never had much presence in the palace throughout her life, but she attracted people's attention in the last moments of her life.
Emperor Tianwu also came. He was playing Landlord with Concubine Yun and Zhang Yuan all night long. When he heard about this, he just sighed and said, "After all, she is Feng'er's mother. I will go and see her."
Unfortunately, when he arrived, Concubine Li could no longer recognize anyone. She just held Emperor Tianwu's hand tightly and refused to let go. Her eyes were filled with a plea for life and a fear of death.
Emperor Tianwu sighed and said to her, "Now you know it's good to live? What did you do before? Feng'er is a child with a hard life. How happy will he be if you are fine? As a mother, why can't you think more about your son? You always think about what kind of status you can get in the palace, but even if the whole harem is given to you, what can you do? I am going to give up the throne, and you have no one to fight for. Are you going to embarrass your daughter-in-law? That's what a stupid mother-in-law would do. Forget it, I am sorry for you in this life, just let it go! If there is an afterlife, I hope you can live more clearly and freely than this life. Just be reborn in an ordinary family, away from the palace and the royal family, and live a good life."
After he finished speaking, Concubine Li finally closed her eyes. Her life journey had finally come to an end. No matter how unwilling and reluctant she was, her life still ended on this night, in her own hands.
The doctors at Baicaotang didn't have time to perform a final rescue, but they also said that no one could save the poison unless Princess Yu was there.
Unfortunately, Feng Yuheng was already on her way to Northwest Village, so she had no idea what had happened in the palace.
Xuan Tianfeng sighed to the sky, and Emperor Tianwu patted him on the shoulder and ordered his servants, "Give her a dignified burial and bury her in the Xuan family mausoleum as the Empress Dowager."
As soon as these words came out, Xuan Tianfeng couldn't stop crying anymore and they flowed down.
Dashun, the twenty-seventh year of Tianwu, midsummer.
Lady Li passed away...
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